Ivan Meyer on Grant Pascoe

9 April 2014. 05h15. Several commentators suggested that Grant Pascoe takes legal action against the DA, or DA functionaries, for slander.

My view: The DA is vanishingly significant and its ad hominen obloquies are otiose irritations undeserving of reaction.

I receive interesting phone calls from those DA leaders who “never read O!O” from time to time… always an indication of the impact of particular O!O commentary. Yesterday two senior DA’s called. Very friendly and all. Just to tell me that Pascoe really was a bad functionary and no loss to the DA other than “a coloured leader” seen to leave.

It is inconceivable that Pascoe could have been such an abject failure as depicted by Meyer in the media statement below, given that Cape Town won tourism accolades such as best African destination, while Pascoe was the Mayco Member for tourism.

It is generally accepted that Pascoe was groomed as a probable future Cape Town mayor, and that he was appointed in a senior DA leadership position… and re-appointed.

It appears that the DA has no political argument on the Pascoe defection but that the party simply, almost automatically, reverts to ad hominem attacks on whomever dares to defy the party.

Not becoming a loyal opposition; a veritable government in waiting; an alternative government… despite the improbability of power.

The DA has a leadership crisis.

Helen Zille has surrounded herself with yes-men having rid herself of any serious competition. She stands alone among senior colleagues fearing her departure and hungering it at the same time.

There is no one to replace Zille on the sinking DA bumboat.

It will be a toss-up between Musi Maimane and Lindiwe Mazibuko, both elevated on skin colour above ability.

Mazibuko clearly lacks stature among her colleagues and woes her election as parliamentary leader wholly to Zille’s kragdadigheid arrogating as campaigning.

Maimane demands no authority. The DA’s R100m Gauteng campaign is nothing but a Maimane camapign for leadership now that the DA has conceded internally that Gauteng is lost.

If the DA truly was an alternative to the ANC, why is there not a single black leader of national stature to be found in the leadership cadre – a state of affairs confirmed by desperate failed attempts to parachute in any old also-ran with a summer tan and a media moment?

A spent force, the DA.

in 2019 it will be ANC, Labour, and the EFF. The DA, should it have survived, will get as much attention as the hapless VF+.

7 April 2014. 16h55.Politicsweb reports Ivan Meyer, The Western Cape DA leader, saying that DA Cape Metro Chair and Mayco Member Grant Pascoe, who abandoned the DA for the ANC today, jumped before he could be demoted and was motivated by opportunism…

The fact is that Mr Pascoe was imminently going to be demoted out of the Mayoral Committee (Mayco) in Cape Town for poor performance. He knew that things weren’t going well in his portfolio, and that he was going to be sacked imminently.

In the DA, we track the performance of our elected representatives very closely. Those that do not fare well get demoted, whilst those that fare well get promoted. It is an accountability mechanism that ensures we deliver the best possible services in the places where we govern.

Unfortunately Mr Pascoe was not willing to accept this, and has jumped ship to avoid accountability.

For the record, Mr Pascoe’s track record in the Cape Town Mayco was terrible:

– He often missed important meetings
– His preparation for meetings was poor
– The political management of his directorate was poor to non-existent
– He didn’t understand the City’s strategic framework
– He had no interest or understanding in City processes
– He had no meaningful contributions to make for his constituency in Mitchell’s Plain.

As a DA member, he never attended PEC and provincial council meetings. He will not be missed, because he was always missing in action.

The ANC continues to buy ineffectual people, whilst we continue to build a strong alternative government with the skills and track record to take our party and our country forward.

Mr Pascoe has now turned his back on the values of the constitution and has instead embraced corruption.

Well, well, well… Ivan, my man, that you didn’t act against this poor representative screams to pathetic leadership! Where were you, Ivan, when Grant so fucked up? What else are you missing, Ivan?